


it has always been you

by ohtumns



Category: ASTRO (Band), NCT (Band), Oh My Girl (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 15:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20294008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohtumns/pseuds/ohtumns
Summary: mark only has eyes for yewon, and yerim will always be his loyal supporter





	it has always been you

**Author's Note:**

> this is only the first part out of (?) i'm not sure how many parts but i just wanted to put this up first because i had fun writing mark/yeri's friendship especially. also, i've promised a friend i'll write mark/arin some day & i hope this does some sort of justice (even though it's not complete yet!) i will also most likely explore yeri's personal relationships in the next part too, as well as more of how mark/arin's relationship is developing. so, let me know if you're enjoying it or if you're not, i'm cool

Throughout his life, Mark has only ever had three women in his life – his mother, Yeoreum (his mum’s best friend’s daughter whom he had grown up with but lose contact when she moved away), and Yerim - his high school best friend who he spent his college years with and now is his roommate while they’re both struggling working adults trying to make ends meet.

He was friendly enough in high school and was even part of the basketball team, but he never mustered the courage to ask girls out for dates even though occasionally, he would receive secret admirers notes inside his locker.

Sadly, he never did get any from the only person he really wished would leave him one.

Choi Yewon – the very epitome of beauty, his high school crush for three whole years – and he never did once ask her out for a date. Yerim could give him hundreds of pep talks, but every time he felt like he could do it, all it took was one look at Yewon laughing, or smiling – or even just sitting there reading a book while the wind was blowing her straight hair across her face – and Mark would completely forgot what he was supposed to say.

“You are a disgrace to the male population,” Yerim had told him on the morning of their graduation and also the last time he knew he would ever see Yewon. “And I’m not even one.”

Mark agreed, but he couldn’t explain why and how Choi Yewon had him so tongue tied and shrank his brain to the size of a pea every time she walked into the same room he was in.

“I’d probably die an old spinster,” he muttered to himself as he watched her leave with her parents, after waving goodbye to her classmates for the last time. He thought she had glanced back at him for a moment, but he was most likely imagining things as usual. Impossible things that would never happen.

“You probably will,” Yerim agreed and slung her arm across his shoulder. “And even though I am your best friend, I can’t make you that promise where I’ll marry you if we’re not married by a certain age because I’m fairly certain I will meet someone before you do and also I never want to marry you.”

+

“Are you working late again?”

Mark shifts the briefcase to his other hand as he balances the phone between his ear and shoulder so he can press the bell to alight the bus. The driver stops and opens the doors for him. Mark waves him goodbye from the rearview mirror and hurries down the steps.

_“I’m not sure. Maybe not,”_ Yerim replies from the other hand. _“It’s Thursday but I already can’t wait for the weekends and not see my boss’ asshole anymore – I mean his asshole face because who wants to see such a hideous – “_

“So, do you want me to get dinner?” Mark interrupts before she could go on a cussing spree and also because he does not want to hear her rant about some guy’s butt crack. “I was also planning to get some bread from the bakery which had just opened a few blocks down from our place. Anything specific you want me to get?”

_“I – hold on a second. I need to send this email out before he breathes fire down my neck again. I swear to God that man is such a sexist because the other male designers here slack way more than I do and he doesn’t give them shit while I make one tiny mistake and it’s like the end of the world.”_ He waits patiently as he listens to her type away furiously at her keyboard before she lets out a satisfied sigh. _“Okay done. So, you were saying – “_

“Dinner. And bread.”

_“Yes, dinner. I don’t know. I think I made plans for a date but I’m not sure if it’s for tonight or tomorrow. I’ll have to check and get back to you.”_

He is near the bakery now and he can see the long line of people which had formed all the way out of the doors. Glancing down at his watch, Mark realises that he has some time to spare and since Yerim won’t be home anytime soon, he could probably just waste time here anyway.

“A date?” he asks suspiciously as he makes his way towards the end of the line. “Are you going out with the tattoo guy again?”

_“Don’t call him that,”_ Yerim reprimanded him. _“He’s a tattoo **artist**, and he’s truly gifted and he told me he has some cool new designs for me to check out.”_

“You’re getting another tattoo?” he questioned incredulously. “You know, I’m all for you being adventurous and taking risks as you step into this adult life, but don’t you think another tattoo will be too much?”

_“Don’t nag like my mother, Mark Lee. I know we agreed you’ll die an old spinster but no reason for you to start developing traits this early. And you make it sound as if I have those big ones on both my arms when I just did a tiny flower on my shoulder and I’m getting another one just above my hip so it’s not like it’ll be any obvious – “_

“Yeah, he’ll probably be touching you elsewhere after that hip too.”

_“You’re just jealous because you **wish** you’re even half as hot as him, with his black leather jacket and that cool bike you know is a chicks’ magnet.”_

Mark lets out a resigned sigh as he moves forward in line and peered in through the display windows of the bakery. “You’re right. I wished. What’s his name again?”

“_Jinyoung_.” He could practically hear the smile in Yerim’s voice as she speaks his name. _“And he’s a total Bae. Anyway, I have to go now. I’ll text you once I’ve confirmed if I’m meeting him tonight or tomorrow.”_

“Okay. Stay safe, use condoms.” The woman in front of him turns to give him a judging look as Yerim tiredly says, _“Stop invading my sex life just because you’re not getting any”_ and ends the call.

He is almost at the door now and he can see the counter where two girls are bustling around trying to meet everyone’s demands. One of them is mending the cashier while the other is busy packing up the orders. Mark takes a step closer inside the shop as the line moves again, and at the same time, the girl who is wrapping up the pastries looks up from the counter and meets his eyes.

Oh, dear god.

_Choi Yewon_.

+

“So, you’re telling me, you saw your first love again after all these years – “

“Well I’m not sure if you can call it love but yeah, I did like her a lot.”

“You _were_ in love with her, dummy! You kept doodling her name all over your notes and sometimes even mine too – that my mother was worried I might not be able to give her grandkids since I was obsessed with some _‘Yewonnie’_ “ Yerim hurls a pillow at him. “So, anyway, you saw Choi Yewon again after all this time and instead of walking up to her and saying hi, you actually ran out of the shop and never looked back?”

“When you put it that way – “

“Mark Lee, you’re utterly and exasperatingly hopeless!”

“You were not there!” he shrugs helplessly and buries his face in dismay. “You don’t know how I felt seeing her there again all of a sudden. Of course, I panicked – especially since she was looking directly at me!”

“_Obviously_, because if I was there, we will not be having this conversation right now! I would’ve pushed you inside and made you stay until you talk to her. I regret not being harder on you last time because I had to listen to you whine and cry about how you’ll never meet another Yewon all through college. And every time you did that, I wanted to shove my stinky socks down your throat because you were the one who wasted the chance and now you did it again!”

Marks lifts his face slowly and stares at his empty cup noodle in despair. “I can’t help the fact that I lose all senses every time I see her standing in front of me. And when she smiles, the room stops moving and I can’t even feel my hands or legs. You know, she lent me her pen once in class and I lied to her that I lost it because I did not want to give it back.”

Yerim throws her head back on the couch in exasperation. “Unbelievable. I don’t know how we’re even friends.”

“Because you wanted me to teach you basketball so you could get back at Jung Jaehyun for dumping you in high school.”

His best friend makes a disgusted face. “I can’t believe I even went out with him. But it was certainly a sweet thing to watch the team captain being beaten at his own game by a girl though. A girl he dumped!”

Mark stares at her wistfully. “I wish I was cool like you. Then maybe I’d have a chance to go out with Yewon.”

Yerim gets off the couch and sits on the floor next to him. She reaches up and holds his face in her hands, “Listen to me. You are cool, okay. You just have to believe that. Stop freaking out the next time you see her. She’s just a girl – she can’t hurt you. Well if she does, I’ll hurt her. But if you won’t even talk to her, you won’t know and you’ll just keep wondering for the rest of your life. Do you really want that?”

He shakes his head.

“Okay, so we’ll go to the bakery tomorrow and you’re going to talk to her.” Just then the doorbell rings, so Yerim says, “I’ll get that. You think about what you’re going to say when you see her tomorrow.”

She gets up to leave Mark with his thoughts and heads for the door. Taking a peek through the peephole, she sees their neighbor’s familiar face smiling back at her and Yerim proceeds to unlock the door.

“Hey, Minhyuk,” she greets their friend with a grin. “Are you giving us food again?”

His expression turns worried. “Have you not eaten? I’m sorry, I thought you guys already had dinner seeing how it’s this late – “

Yerim brushes him off with a wave, “Don’t worry about it. I was just teasing you. So, what’s up?” She watches as he shifts his weight uncomfortably and fidgets with his hands as he searches for the words he wants to say.

“Uh, I’m actually having a dance showcase tomorrow and I would really love it if you could come by to watch it. I have backstage passes for you and Mark – so you guys can hang around after the show since there’ll be some popular idols joining us tomorrow.”

“Oh!” Yerim’s eyes shines in excitement. “That sounds cool! But you’ll know we’ll still come to watch you even without the idols. We’d love to – what time is the showcase?”

Minhyuk whips two tickets out from his back pocket, as though he had been anticipating for Yerim to reject his invitation instead. “It starts at eight, but you can be seated by 7:30 pm. I got you two of the best seats, so you’ll be able to watch it up close at the front.”

“Aw, thanks Minhyuk.” She steps forwards to pull him in for a hug. “This is your first showcase, right? As a choreographer?” He nods as they break apart from the hug. “Must be really exciting! I can’t wait to watch it.”

“And, I was thinking that maybe after the show, we can grab dinner together – “

Their conversation stops short when they hear the footsteps approaching them, and a second later, a tall lean guy in a familiar leather jacket appears in their view and gives Yerim a crooked smile.

“Hey, you.”

Minhyuk, sensing that his presence is not welcomed any longer, smiles awkwardly at Yerim and shoves both hands into his back pockets. “So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She nods eagerly at him. “See you! And good luck! We’ll be cheering for you.”

He waves her goodbye and gives the taller guy a quick nod before heading back for his apartment which is only a couple doors away from them. Jinyoung waits until he is gone before walking to Yerim and bending down to give her a peck on the cheek.

“What are you doing here?” she asks in surprised as he pulls away. “It’s already late and you said you have to be at the shop early tomorrow.”

He holds up a laptop bag in his hand. “You forgot this. You were in such a hurry to leave, you didn’t even finish your food and left your bag behind.”

“Oh, thank you so much! You’re my _hero_. I’d die tomorrow without this because my boss will definitely kill me since I have an important presentation to prepare for.” She had rushed out of the restaurant as soon as she read Mark’s saddening text about bolting out on Yewon again, and between being worried about her friend and curious if it was _the Choi Yewon_, she had ditched her date and even forgotten about her laptop.

She looks up at him gratefully, at the same time trying to figure out just how far she’d like to take this _thing_ they have between them. They did have lots of fun during the past few dates they had been on, and Jinyoung is definitely the sweetest and caring guy she’s ever dated – despite his quiet and mysterious demeanor, but Yerim frankly got bored easily (which explains why she’s never had a relationship that lasted more than six months) and the _bad boy charms_ is starting to wear off its effect on her.

That does not mean she is ready to break things off with him yet though.

“So,” he says, breaking the silence as he moves in closer, causing her to back up against the closed door. Pressing his hand against the door just above her head, he smiles down at her and asks, “Does your hero get to take you out for dinner tomorrow night to make up our shortened date earlier?”

Yerim winces and tries not to get distracted by the sweet scent of his cologne. She just wants to reach up and pulls him in for a kiss, not caring about the fact that her poor best friend is probably still waiting for her to organize his chaotic thoughts.

But Mark will always come first and although she wants nothing more than to just invite him in and pick up from where they left things off earlier during the date, Yerim knows that she cannot let herself be swayed by this beautiful creature, who is looking at her with puppy eyes and giving her the lazy grin she adores so much.

“I’m sorry,” she finally says with a heavy sigh. “I already made plans for tomorrow and as much as I’d love to invite you in, my roommate’s kind of a mess now and I need to get back to him. Can I call you later and you can tell me all about the weird customers you had today?”

Jinyoung simply laughs and nods. “It’s alright. I’ll let you get back to what you were doing, and I’ll text you when I’m home. See you soon?”

“Sure,” she murmurs, just as he bends down to kiss her softly on the lips. The cologne is doing things to her again and she forces herself to break away before she could say, ‘_screw Mark, let’s make out._’ He lets go of her reluctantly and whispers, “Sweet dreams, beautiful” before walking back towards the lift direction.

Yerim waits until the elevator door closes before she heads back inside to where Mark is still sitting on the floor, with his empty cup noodle and staring off into the distance probably thinking about what he is going to say to _Yewonnie_ the next time he sees her.

She rubs her temples tiredly. Her best friend is truly tragic.

+

The next morning before work, Mark let himself be dragged by Yerim down to the bakery even though his heart is madly racing at the thought of seeing Yewon again and he feels a tiny bit of regret telling Yerim everything. She is not going to let him off easy.

“Okay, so let’s go over this again,” she says when they’re right outside the shop and Mark tries not to think about how he needs to go to the toilet so badly. “What do you say when you walk up to her?”

He wipes the sweat off his forehead with the sleeves of his work shirt and looks at his best friend nervously. “Hi, Yewon. It’s Mark, from high school. Remember me?”

“You might want to practice your smile too because you just look hella creepy right now and she’d probably call the police before you even get the chance to ask her out.”

He stares at her indignantly. “You’re really not helping right now.”

Yerim throws up her hands in the air. “Fine, don’t listen to me. But I’m not bailing you out of jail when they put you in there for being ‘the creepy dude who looks like he watches porn and acts them out on random strangers.’”

Before he even had the chance to retaliate, Yerim is pushing him inside through the doors and nudging him towards the freshly baked muffins near the counter. She casually distances herself and pretends to be interested in the other selections while Mark randomly picks up a blueberry muffin and brings it over toward the cashier.

Thankfully, Yewon is alone behind the counter and there’d be no one else to witness his embarrassing moment should he really mess things up. Well, except for Yerim – who has suddenly come up behind him and patted his butt lightly. _The audacity_.

He takes in a deep breath and opens his mouth to say the line they had rehearsed over and over again until Yerim fell asleep on the couch. He had played it in his mind the whole time they had walked from their apartment building to the bakery shop. Mark knows he got this. It was supposed to start with just a simple, “Hi” and should things go smoothly according to his plan, he’d ask Yewon if she’d like to watch a movie with him the following night and hopefully, she’ll make him a happy guy by saying yes.

But there must be a reason why God made him smart and good in sports, and also a filial son who always think of his parents because to balance out those good points, he has to have flaws, so he’ll be a decent human being. Mark just wishes, it wasn’t at the expense of his dream girl looking at him like _‘the creepy dude who looks like he watches porn and acts them out on random strangers’_. 

“Your buns are nice.”

The room goes silence – albeit there are only the three of them in the shop. Yerim mentally counts the number of times she’s been in embarrassing situations, but none hold a candle to this. She feels like dying and she is going to take Mark with her, because nobody deserves to suffer his secondhand embarrassment.

“Oh!” he exclaims suddenly, realizing Yewon’s stunned expression and also probably due to the fact Yerim had stepped on his shoe pointedly under the counter. “I mean, the buns you sell here are nice – _the bread_ – obviously I’m not talking about _your buns_…even though they’re nice as well –“ Yerim elbows him sharply in the rib. “I’m sorry, please forget everything I’ve just said.”

Without paying for the muffin he had picked out or even saying a word to Yerim, he spins on his heels and bolts out of the shop faster than any of them could even register what had just taken place.

Yewon looks back and forth, from his retreating figure and Yerim’s sheepish expression, truly confused as to what had just happened to her. The latter is about to make herself scarce and most likely won’t be returning for a second visit to the bakery no thanks to her friend’s ingenious mind – when Yewon suddenly calls out to her, causing her to stop short in her tracks.

“Wait – Yerim?”

She turns around slowly and gives the other girl an apologetic smile. “Hey, Yewon. Fancy seeing you here! Cute shop, by the way! Okay, I’ll see you around!”

“Wait!” Yewon puts down the plastic she was holding onto and walks round the counter to stop Yerim from taking another step. “I can’t believe it’s really you guys! That was Mark, wasn’t it?”

She wants to say no and save her friend some pride (if he still has any left) but she also knows there is no point denying the truth and it isn’t possible trying to fool their former class president who always came top of class. So Yerim smiles at her meekly and nods.

“Yeah, that was Mark. I apologise for his awkward self. He tends to mess up his words and say the wrong things when he’s a nervous wreck. Please don’t take offense to what he just said to you. I assure you he was not trying to hit on you _that_ way.”

To her surprise, Yewon laughs delightfully and shakes her head. “It’s fine. Even though we didn’t talk much back in school, I know Mark was one of the nicer ones and he’d always gave me his juice whenever he saw me staying late after classes.” Yerim raises her brow questioningly (Mark was always so stingy with his juices when it came to her and would tell her to just get her own). “I’d love to catch up with him though. Would you please tell him that I’ll be here in the afternoon tomorrow and if he’s up for it, he can drop by and I’ll save him some of our bestsellers.”

Yerim grins and pulls the surprised girl in for a hug. “You’re an angel, Choi Yewon. Thank you, for not thinking that my best friend is weird because we’ve all been so worried about him. I’ll definitely pass on the message to him. Can I get this to go, by the way?” She points towards the blueberry muffin Mark had left behind in his haste to leave the shop.

+


End file.
